Polycarbonate containers are commonly used to store and distribute water. Many bottles having necks, but no handles, are difficult to lift or remove from a support structure. This is especially true for large water bottles, such as the 5-gallon variety delivered to home and office.
Due to their weight and awkward size of such bottles, gripping devices are used to load and unload large water bottles to and from crates. Such bottle gripping devices may, for example, be incorporated in machines for lifting returned bottles from crates arriving at a bottling site, and for placing filled bottles into crates to be distributed from the bottling site. Normally, several bottle-gripping devices, corresponding in number to the number of bottles in a crate, are mutually coupled to form the tool at the end of a robot arm. The crate comprises several cells in which bottles are placed horizontally. This horizontal position facilitates movement and storage of the bottles.
Prior art attempts to provide an automated system using a robot arm for loading and unloading bottles in a trip. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a first robot 102 unloading bottles from cells of a bottle rack 104. The first robot 102 receives an empty bottle 105 from a cell of the bottle rack 104. After the first robot 102 unloads the empty bottle 105, it is ready to receive another empty bottle 106 located inside the bottle rack 104. A second robot 108 is positioned behind rack 104. The second robot 108 extends an arm 110 pushing empty bottle 106 out of rack 104 so that first robot 102 is able to receive empty bottle 106.
However, both robots 102 and 108 must be synchronized in order to efficiently load and unload bottles from the rack 104. Furthermore, when the second robot 108 pushes empty bottle 106 out of the crate 104 towards the first robot 102, the empty bottle 106 may get jammed in the cells causing damages and delay to the operation.
A definite need exists for an automated gripping device. Specifically, a need exists for an automated gripping device for lifting and carrying water bottles to and from support structures. A primary purpose of the present invention is to solve these needs and provide further, related advantages.